1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable engine operated machine having an engine, a working machine driven by the engine, a box-shaped case housing the engine and the working machine and a carrying handle.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of engine operated machines. Each of those engine operated machines is built by combining an engine and a working machine to be driven by the engine. An engine generator having an electric generator as a working machine is leisure and emergency equipment used widely as a temporary or emergency power supply. The engine operated machine has an engine, a working machine and a box-shaped case housing the engine and the working machine to suppress noise propagation during operation. The case is provided with a cooling air passage through which cooling air flows into the case to cool the engine and the working machine. A prior art portable engine operated machine disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Nos. 3,347,044 and 2,901,774 has a case provided with carrying handles projecting upward from an upper part thereof.
In this prior art engine operated machine, hand spaces must be formed between the case and the carrying handles to enable hands to grip the carrying handles. Consequently, the carrying handles must be formed in a size large enough to form the hand spaces and the size of the engine operated machine increases accordingly. A large space is needed to store the large engine operated machine. The carrying handles projecting upward from the case are prominent. Therefore, the carrying handles must be carefully designed so that the aesthetic appearance of the engine operated machine may not be spoiled. Thus the carrying handles place restrictions on the aesthetic design of the engine operated machine. When the cooling air passage is formed in a labyrinthine shape to suppress the outward propagation of noise generated by the engine operated machine through the cooling air passage, the case inevitably has complex construction and increases the cost of the engine operated machine.
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing problems and it is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide a portable engine operated machine provided with carrying handles, easy to carry, small in size, having an improved appearance and capable of reducing restrictions on the design of its case.